


i learned that love tastes good (you shoved it in my mouth)

by labanccity



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 07:50:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12836595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labanccity/pseuds/labanccity
Summary: i got all twisted up, you helped straighten me out





	i learned that love tastes good (you shoved it in my mouth)

**Author's Note:**

> wow i actually finished this. i listened to a lot of country music playlists while writing this. shout out to shai for being the best and coming with me on this journey. i fudged a lot of the details but why not. also a lot of this is based on presumptions. 
> 
> title from Bae by The Front Bottoms

1.

The Steelheads sweep the Petes. It’s only the first round but there was momentum on their side and Nate was pumped. The locker room was alive and the boys’ good moods put a smile on Nate’s face. After proper celebrations with the team, he and Mike headed back to his house. Nate couldn’t stop smiling on the drive home, he’s playing all of this amazing hockey with his best friend. They had snuck some liquor from Mikey’s parents, Nate as a lookout while Mikey jimmied open the cabinet. He didn’t really pay attention to what he grabbed, as he closed the door and he and Nate went into his room. 

After getting comfortable, both of them took long sips of something nasty and peach tasting. Mikey was lying on the bed, giggling up at Nate who was sitting up next to him. The familiar positions contributed to Nate’s good mood. He could freely look down at his best friend with no interruptions, feeling the liquor slowly seep into his bloodstream. 

He looks beautiful, Nate thought to himself convincing himself it was the alcohol. The thought wasn’t rare, just kind of, looming. And Mikey was rambling about who knows what and Nate couldn’t be bothered to listen anymore. He slumped down on the bed, getting eye to eye with Mikey. 

He leaned in a little closer to Mikey’s face, his lips bright red and Nate never wanted to kiss them more. It could be so easy, to lean in all the way to place a soft peck on the corner of Mikey’s mouth. Nate leans back just as quickly as he leaned, as if he was electrified. Both of them sobered up from that as he searched for words to explain himself. 

“Did you just kiss me to shut me up?” Mikey said sounding serious, but it doesn’t hold and he breaks out in giggles. The two of them broke out into the fits, they laughed so much Nate almost forgot what he did. Belatedly, Nate realized he never gave Mikey an answer, “Uh, yeah I did”. Holding his breath as he turned to face his best friend. 

“Okay,” Mikey replies still giggling and sitting up to rest on his arms to kiss Nate again. He could feel Mikey’s dumb smile against his lips and he couldn’t help but return it. They were tipsy and high off a win, sue him. Nate didn’t think it had meant anything. They were just celebrating the victory, that’s all. At least he would never let himself think it was anything more.

2.

They lose in five games to Erie.

It’s bittersweet, obviously. Nate knows it should be Mikey on winning side of the handshake between the two captains at centre ice, he knows it should be them going to Windsor- but they aren’t. Their season is over, just like that. Nate can’t help it if he wants to let the loss consume him, even for this moment because he knows it’s his last game in the blue and white jersey. He knows that it’s the last time he’s going to look at Mikey as his captain. It’s a bit too overwhelming. And Mikey is overcome with disappointment, he’s always worn his heart on his sleeve. “Five games” he thinks, “pathetic.” 

The locker room is quiet, sounds of the Otters celebrating on the ice echo to the visitor’s locker room. Everyone sits in silence as Richmond tries consoling his team, no one believes him. Nate sits quietly in his stall with his head in his hands, Mikey sits down next to him and knocks his knee against Nate’s. They don’t have to say anything, they just know. “At least it wasn’t a sweep,” Nic says trying to light the mood only to get a couple of grumbles out of the guys. As everyone is gathering up their gear Mikey leans over and whispers “Hey, when we get back to Mississauga, come home with me”. Nate turns to look at his best friend, and nods. They need to be there for each other right now, that’s what best friends are for. 

The boys board the bus and Nate takes his usual seat next to Mikey, and there’s a light chatter, everyone discussing what their off season plans are. Jacob and Shaw are making a bet to see who can bench more in a month. About an hour into their ride, Mikey slumps down on Nate’s shoulder. His face illuminated by the soft glow of the seat light Owen is using in front of him. He looks vulnerable right now, like he’s trying to repress the memory of tonight. Nate brings up a hand to pet his hair, still damp from his post game shower. Mikey lets out a sleepy hum and buries his face further into Nate’s neck. Across the aisle, Ryan shoots Nate a knowing look that only he seems to know about. 

When they finally arrive at Mikey’s house, their movements are slow as they trudge upstairs, they make it to Mikey’s room and undress before flopping down on the bed. They haven’t said much, but they don’t need to. It’s not unusual that they’re sharing a bed, it just feels different now, like they both know this could be one of the last times they do this. Nate tries not to think about his life without Mikey- it’s pretty hard considering they got drafted to the same NHL team but the league is different. He doesn’t really know what’s going to happen and he doesn’t want to think about it. 

“Good game tonight,” Nate whispers into the darkness.

“Not good enough,” Mikey replies rolling onto his side to face Nate. Their faces are extremely close and Nate has to will his heart to not beat out of his chest. The last time they were in this position, it was a time of celebration, they had just swept the Petes and Mikey and Nate both went home happy. 

Not tonight though, Nate tries to savor every moment when Mikey says something that snaps Nate out of his train of thought. 

“Wait-what?” Nate stutters, not believing he heard the words correctly that came out of his best friend’s mouth.

“I said” Mikey huffs, impatiently, “are you going to kiss me again?” And Nate didn’t know- they had kissed when they swept the Petes, it being filled with giddiness and emotion. 

“I-um if you want to I guess?” he stammers out, rolling on his back refusing to look at Mikey anymore.

“Well obviously, that’s why I asked Nathan.” Before Nate can respond, Mikey blankets his body, leaning in so that Nate can feel Mikey’s warm breath on his lips. He blinks before closing the gap between them, it doesn’t take Mikey long to return the favor and kiss him back. It’s not extremely passionate, just the kind of kiss that will reassure both of them of each other’s presence. They kiss till the pain of the loss lessens and sleepiness starts to penetrate their bones. Mikey breaks the kiss but doesn’t go anywhere, just moves down and rests his head against Nate’s chest. Nate brings his arm around Mikey’s shoulders in return.  
Fuck, Nate thinks.

When they finally wake up, they don’t talk about it. It’s not awkward, why would it be? There’s some kind of mutual understanding that last night was just about the loss. Unspoken communication and mutual agreement is just part of being best friends. At least that’s what Nate is telling himself. Eventually they have to get out of bed and make their way to the rink for locker clean out. Mikey toys with the radio in the car and Nate lets him. 

3.

The summer is a blur, filled with the same training regimen, trying to get faster and stronger. Nate and Mikey talk everyday, whether it’s long conversations on the phone or a couple of snapchats over the course of the day.

New Jersey picks first overall and Nate can’t help but feel wistful. It was him and Mikey just one year ago. They have to report for rookie camp in early September and do a bunch of PR stuff for the Devils. #Superbuddies never die, Nate guesses. Mikey comes over the day before they have to report to New Jersey for development camp. 

“Are you nervous man?” Mikey sits on the bed, looking smug while Nate frantically packs around him, making sure he doesn’t forget anything. 

“Haha, I’m fine” Nate bites back with no heat. 

“Just let me know if you me to help you with my insane packing skills, I got packed in no time.”

“Not everyone lives with your mom Clouder,” Nate laughs as he dodges the pillow Mikey throws at him while trying to decide which shirt is clean enough to bring. 

They’re on the same flight to Newark, just across the aisle from each other. It’s barely eight in the morning and Mikey is in sweats, rubbing the sleep out of his eye. Nate thinks it’s a good look for him. Mikey looks good no matter what. He doesn’t realize he’s staring until Mikey goes 

“What, do I still have pillow marks on my face?”

“Uh no...I was trying to look at the view,” Nate dumbly points behind Mikey to the airplane window. Mikey deadpans before responding, “The window is closed Nater.”

“Well maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough,” Nate says trying to defend himself. Mikey huffs out a laugh and settles back into his seat, 

“Whatever dude, wake me before we land,” and closes his eyes. Nate breaths a sigh of relief, thanking God he won’t say anything more embarrassing.

-

All of the rookies pile onto a boat and the PR person thinks it’s a good idea to give Mikey control of the official snapchat. Nate rolls his eyes, knowing what Mikey can get up to. He sits on one of the marine vinyl seats with some tomatoes, next to Brandon Gignac. He leans back contently, watching as Mikey goes around to every prospect awkwardly introducing them. Some of them just look confused until they realize Mikey has the snapchat. Whoever put him in charge should be fired. 

Poor Nico, Nate thinks quietly to himself, trying to push down the smile creeping up on his face. Eventually, Mikey makes his way back over to Nathan like he always does. There’s not a lot of space on the seat to begin with, but that’s never mattered. Mikey ends up half on top of Nate, half pushing Brandon off the seat. Brandon can’t look too mad though, he’s new to this but he understands that this is how Mikey and Nate work. 

“Honestly, who thought it was a good idea to let you control the snapchat,” Nate complains.  
Mikey rolls his eyes, staring at the cherry tomatoes left in Nate’s hand. 

“How many tomatoes do you think you can fit in your mouth?”

“Huh? What’s the big deal?”

“I don’t know, I’m just curious. Can’t a guy wonder how many small tomatoes can fit in his best friend’s mouth?”

“They’re called cherry tomatoes Clouder” 

“Whatever, I just want to know how many you can fit in your mouth.” Before Nate can realize what’s happening, Mikey pulls out the PR phone and snaps a picture of Nate caught of guard with the text “How many 2matoes can Nate fit in mouth.” 

“That’s so lame Mikey.”

“The people want to know Bas. The people need to know.” 

Behind them, someone clears their throat. Mikey turns around and Nate looks up and finds a short woman in a black suit looking pointedly at the two of them. 

“Michael, we think it’s best that you give the Snapchat back to us now”

Nate snickers as Mikey reluctantly hands the phone back. It’s a good day.

They eventually make it back to the hotel, quickly deciding that they were going to hole up in Mikey’s room for the night because Miles was going to be out. 

Mikey has trouble opening the door and Nate laughs at him, leaning on the door until Mikey opens it and he stumbles back. 

“You drunk buddy?” Mikey laughs, placing his hand on Nate’s waist to steady him. 

“Off life,” Nate grins,”Dude, think about it. We don’t even have to split up, we still get to play for the same team.” Mikey frowns slightly and Nate cocks his head to the side, he knows that look. 

“What’s wrong Mikey?”

Mikey hesitates.

“Do you think they’re going to send me back down?” Mikey eventually lets out. Nate’s eyes widen.  
“No way dude, they’d be crazy not to keep you up you’re way too good.” Mikey grins.

“Yeah? You sure about that?”

“Totally, any team would die to have you.”

“Thanks Nater,” and Nate comes to realize that Mikey’s hand is still on his waist and has been slowly drawing him closer. 

“You’re going to do so good Mikey, we’re going to tear it up. Just like old times.” Nate’s voice trails off into a whisper. Their faces are so close at this point, Mikey leaning against the door. His eyes flicker to Nate’s lips, Nate doesn’t miss a thing. 

“So so good Mikey…” He trailed off, he heard Mikey take in a sharp breath. He draws him in the last couple steps until they meet halfway. Mikey drops his other hand to Nate’s waist as he brings his hands up to cup Mikey’s face. Nate steps forward, pushing Mikey further into the door earning a low groan. Nate was desperate to hear more. 

He doesn’t know how long they were kissing, could’ve been seconds, minutes, hours, he’s lost in Mikey. He doesn’t know when he dragged his hands down Mikey’s body. He doesn’t know when Mikey jumped in his arms and he doesn’t know when he makes his way over to Mikey’s bed. He does know that when he breaks the kiss and leans down to kiss Mikey’s neck, he gasps oh so quietly in Nate’s ear. 

There’s a knock on the door. It’s Miles. They break apart, panting, eyes widening.  
“Hey Mikey are you in there? I, uh, lost my room key.” 

“Um, yeah I’ll be right there,” Mikey calls back, voice rough. Rough from kissing Nate. He steps aside so that Mikey can sit up and make his way to the door. He lets Miles in and Nate gives him a small smile. It seems like Miles can sense he just walked into an awkward situation, and he starts, “Am I interrupting anything?”  
“No, no,” Mikey hastily replies, glancing at Nate, “we were just talking and stuff.” Miles looks skeptical but shrugs and makes his way into the room.

“Right, it’s late I should probably go,” Nate blurts out, suddenly feeling suffocated in a room with Mikey in it.

“Oh,” Mikey sounds disappointed, “Do you need me to walk you back to your room?”

“I’ll be fine, ‘night Miles. Good night Mikey.” He barely has the chance to hear Mikey’s reply as he’s closing the door. He doesn’t leave. He stands in the hallway, thinking about the twenty minutes earlier when he was on the other side of the door, kissing Mikey. Again.  
He’s so fucked. 

It’s not really a surprise that he’s drawn to Mikey. No one could blame him, Mikey was amazing at hockey, funny, and cute. Not to mention an amazing kisser, but Nate tried not to think about that one. Even to the casual viewer, the two of them seemed extremely close. They were #Superbuddies after all. 

But god, did Nate want to be so much more than that. He wanted to be with Mikey all of the time and hold his hand. He wanted to kiss whenever, not just during the heat of the moment. He wanted Mikey so bad. 

4\. 

He gets sent down to Binghamton Devils. He knew it was coming. He’s too old for the O so there’s nowhere else for him to go.  
Mikey drives Nate to the airport to make his flight to Binghamton. It’s weirdly heavy when they pull up to the terminal and Nate looks over at Mikey in the driver’s seat, knowing he won’t see him for a while. He gets out and collects his luggage from the trunk as Mikey leans up against the car. 

“Guess this is goodbye” Nate starts as he looks around, Mikey pulls him into a hug and whispers, “I’ll miss you buddy.” 

Before pulling back, Mikey turns his head and gives Nate a small peck on the corner of his mouth. He blushes and avoids Mikey’s eyes as he fumbled with his carry on. 

“Uh, well I’ve got to go check in and stuff,” Nate trips over his words, illiterate as always.

“Right” 

“Bye Mikey”

“Bye Nater”

He looks back one last time before walking through the doors. He can’t quite place the look on Mikey’s face and he doesn’t want to dwell on it.

Now that Nate knows he wants to do more than kiss Mikey it makes it even harder to be away. Mikey stays of course. Just like Nate said he would. There’s still a chance he could be called up and play with Mikey but the chances seem slim, it’s not like that anymore. And Mikey, he tears it up. When Nate doesn’t have any games he’ll try to catch the Devils game- with the excuse of supporting his team. Mikey’s skill never fails to amaze him.

When Nate finally settles in Binghamton, the two of them text sporadically, and call when they get the chance. Nate will take what he can get from Mikey. People grow apart as they get older, that’s just how this works. Shit is pretty lame in Binghamton and talking to Mikey is the only thing he looks forward to. They don’t see each other face to face for a while and it nags. 

5.

Then, Mikey gets hurt. Nate isn’t watching when it happens but he calls Mikey later after the game. He needs surgery and will be out for at least six weeks. 

That starts the six weeks of radio silence.

Nate doesn’t hear anything from Mikey. He knows it’s hard for him to sit in the press box and watch the Devils finally do well. But Nate tries to focus on his game and pretend like it doesn’t hurt that he hasn’t heard from his best friend in over a month. 

After Mikey is cleared to start skating again, he gets sent back down to Mississauga and Nate works up the nerve to text him.

“sorry buddy you’ll tear it up again in sauga”

“you said that last time.”

And that hurts. He should’ve just kept his mouth shut but everyone knows he’ll say whatever Mikey wants to hear. 

“i’ll come see u next time u play in erie .”

“already planning on it.”

The drive between Erie and Binghamton is not short or on the route to back to Sauga. But it’s worth it to see Mikey again. The Devils have a few off days before their next game so Nate makes the nearly four hour trip. God, he’s in too deep.

He gets there right before puck drop and lets out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He sees Mikey skate to center ice and prepare for the opening face off. Nate’s nerves are through the roof the entire game and it’s not because he’s watching his old team. The Steelheads beat the depleted Otters, which wasn’t really a surprise to anyone. 

Nate knows this place well and finds himself pacing in front of the visitor’s locker room with a pit in his stomach. Things were so different the last time he was here. He assumes Mikey told the rest of the team that he was coming tonight because when they started to file out, none of them looked surprised to see him. 

Nate passes the time catching up with them until Mikey came out. He began to wonder if Mikey was purposely taking longer than necessary to get ready knowing that Nate was on the other side of the door. 

After what seems like forever, Mikey emerges from the locker room. He’s got a soft smile on his face, that’s all too familiar to Nate. Owen must notice that Nate isn’t paying attention anymore as he pulls the rest of the guys away without another word. 

Mikey pushes into his space and before Nate can even get out a proper hello, Mikey crashes his lips onto Nate’s. It takes Nate a second to respond, so many things going through his head. Mikey seems eager and Nate indulges himself for a moment longer before placing his hands on Mikey’s shoulders to gently push him away. 

“Some hello,” Nate comments and relishes in the way Mikey blushes.

“I just... I missed you ‘thas all” Mikey looks down, his voice quiet and fuck, Nate is so gone for him.

“Is that why you didn’t talk to me for months?” Because why wouldn’t he shoot himself in the foot right now after Mikey’s greeting.

Mikey steps back and Nate feels a chill, “I didn’t want you to worry about me”

“That’s kind of hard not to do Clouder,” Nate says, feeling his voice raise at the end. 

“I know,” Mikey’s unbelivable quiet and Nate can’t believe he’s having this conversation after  
Mikey just kissed the life out of him. He wants to get mad. Mikey didn’t talk to him for over a month and he thinks he can just waltz in and start kissing him to make everything better. 

Spoiler: He can’t. But it’s pretty damn hard to resist.

“Listen-” Nate starts, but he’s interrupted by Ryan poking his head around the corner. 

“Mikey, the bus is here, we gotta go”

Mikey embodies the disappointment that Nate feels right now. He should’ve said more. 

“I’ll text you,” Mikey starts as he walks away. 

“Yeah,” Nate replies dumbly as he watches Mikey walk away again and he’s left empty handed. Again.

+1.

Mikey stay’s true to his word texts Nate more often. It feels just like old times and Nate hasn’t been this happy in a while. They haven’t necessarily talked about feelings, Nate doesn’t know how Mikey feels. They just started talking every day again and Nate doesn’t want to put his foot in his mouth and ruin it. He’ll just go with the flow and let his feelings simmer every time he gets a notification from Mikey.

In December, Mikey makes the World Juniors roster for the second year in the row. Nate sends him a congratulation text with a bunch of emojis, he’s so pumped for him. 

“I expect to see you at a game haha”

“of course super pumped”

He goes to the game against Finland, sporting one of Mikey’s old jerseys. For Canada, of course. Team Canada looks great this year, but Finland doesn’t go down without a fight. Mikey doesn’t score in the win but he gets a pair of assists on Raddysh’s and Jost’s goal. 

Nate knows Mikey is busy with press stuff and they already agreed to meet back at the hotel where the team was staying. Walking around Buffalo reminds him of the combine, before his life changed. 

He wanders down the hall in search for Mikey’s room, when Mikey pops his head out of a door and flashes Nate a signature grin when he lays his eyes on him. Nate makes the couple strides into Mikey’s room before enveloping him into a hug. 

“Big win today”

Mikey shrugs it off like it’s no big deal, when it totally is. Every game counts. His demeanor changes faintly and Nate’s feels it when Mikey slightly tenses up. 

Mikey lets out a shaky breath and Nate can’t think of any reason why he should be nervous right now. 

They both begin talking at the same time, then laughing awkwardly insisting the other go first. 

“This is like so stupid,” Mikey looks down at his hands and Nate holds his breath.

“What is?” Nate isn’t sure he wants to know. 

Mikey huffs out a laugh and looks at Nate incredulously. 

“Come on man, I’m like- in love with you”

Nate’s world stops. He did not just hear that correctly. There’s no way. He stands there in the middle of Mikey’s hotel room in downtown Buffalo and he cannot believe his ears. 

Mikey loves him. And he loves Mikey. 

As Mikey’s face falls, Nate realizes he hasn’t said anything back. 

“Look, we can just forget I said anything! Yeah let’s do that,” Mikey begins rambling, turning to walk towards the window and Nate cuts him off. 

“Dude. I’ve been in love with you for like, ever” It’s Mikey’s turn to be caught off guard, spinning around to stare at Nate. 

“Are you fucking with me?”

“How could anyone not be in love with you. Look at you man.” 

Mikey’s smile becomes shy again. “Guess we’ve both been pretty stupid.”

Nate knows that look, that look means Mikey is about to get what he wants. Right now, he wants Nate. 

“Guess so.”

It doesn’t take much longer for Nate to get reacquainted with Mikey’s mouth. And it’s so much fucking better than the first time all the way back in March. Mikey is a warm weight that Nate would gladly keep for the rest of his life. 

They spend the rest of the night watching dumb TV movies (if you call watching, making out every five minutes) and eating snacks from the vending machine. 

By no means is it perfect, but it’s Mikey and Nate, so it is.

**Author's Note:**

> untagged characters - various members of the steelheads, a couple of devils and one confused PR lady.  
> i'm not linking my twitter cause i don't know how.


End file.
